In this exciting debut, author Keri Arthur explodes onto the supernatural scene with a sexy, sensuous tale of intrigue and suspense set in a world where legends walk and the shady paths of the underworld are far more sinister than anyone envisioned.

A rare hybrid of vampire and werewolf, Riley Jenson and her twin brother, Rhoan, work for Melbourne’s Directorate of Other Races, an organization created to police the supernatural races–and protect humans from their depredations. While Rhoan is an exalted guardian, a.k.a. assassin, Riley is merely an office worker–until her brother goes missing on one of his missions. The timing couldn’t be worse. More werewolf than vampire, Riley is vulnerable to the moon heat, the weeklong period before the full moon, when her need to mate becomes all-consuming.…

Luckily Riley has two willing partners to satisfy her every need. But she will have to control her urges if she’s going to find her brother….Easier said than done as the city pulses with frenzied desire, and Riley is confronted with a very powerful–and delectably naked–vamp who raises her temperature like never before.

In matters carnal, Riley has met her match. But in matters criminal, she must follow her instincts not only to find her brother but to stop an unholy harvest. For someone is doing some shifty cloning in an attempt to produce the ultimate warrior–by tapping into the genome of nonhumans like Rhoan. Now Riley knows just how dangerous the world is for her kind–and just how much it needs her.

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Most helpful customer reviews

Australian author Keri Arthur has a gift - the unique ability to mix romance with the supernatural and make it exciting, entertaining, and almost utterly believable.

With Full Moon Rising we meet Riley Jensen, a young person headed home, to the apartment she shares with her twin brother, Rhoan. It is a Friday night, after midnight. There is a full moon, the power of which she feels "shimmering in her veins." And rightly so, as Keri isn't just any young person, she is a blend of hybrid and werewolf blessed or perhaps cursed with unique senses. The night doesn't feel right to her, it's far too quiet. We hear:

"Of course, curiosity not only killed cats, but it often took out inquisitive werewolves, too. Or, in my case, half weres. And my nose for trouble had caused me more grief over the years than I wanted to remember."

There is even more grief in store for Riley when she discovers that Rhoan is not at home and she is unable to contact him. He works for Melbourne's Directorate of Other Races, an organization that looks into all things nonhuman. Not only was investigation done, but these so called guardians also determined the fate of their captives. If killing needed to be done it was Rhoan who did it.

While Riley also worked for the same organization she was more of a minion, as she said she didn't have the ability to do any research - all she could find was trouble. And there's trouble aplenty when she first meets an extremely bothersome vampire intent on doing her in and then finds herself aroused by the moon heat which fills her with an uncontrollable urge to mate.

Actress Tamara Lovatt Smith with a voice suitably Australian, distinct, and self-possessed gives a commendable reading of this story of a Werewolf/Vampire in love and danger.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)

Amazon.com:
201 reviews

146 of 171 people found the following review helpful

Meh. Disappointing.May 9 2006

By
Amazon Customer
- Published on Amazon.com

Format: Hardcover

As an avid Kim Harrison fan, I read this book when she recommended it on her website. Her other recommendation, Moon Called by Patricia Briggs, was an excellent read, so I dug into Full Moon Rising with high hopes, but was disappointed.

Unlike other reviewers, Riley's promiscuity didn't bother me (although the idea that werewolves lose an entire week each month because they are driven to do nothing but have constant sex makes me wonder how they stayed employed, and also seemed like a contrived plot device). What bothered me were predictable, one-dimensional characters (when the secondary characters like Rhoan's boyfriend become more sympathetic than the main ones, there is a problem), a plot that lacks cohesion and focus, and silly twists that make you roll your eyes at both the story line and the character's actions. The premise was interesting, and this could have been a much better book than it is. Instead it's yet another mediocre offering in a genre that's becoming flooded with poor quality works. There are much better books out there to spend your money on. Check out Kelley Armstrong, Robin McKinley (Sunshine), and Kim Harrison, to name a few.

36 of 42 people found the following review helpful

Give A Dog A BoneMarch 16 2007

By
L. J Lewis
- Published on Amazon.com

Format: Mass Market Paperback

Keri Arthur is Australian author whose work I've been a fan of for some years. Unfortunately, she's had to publish under ImaJin Books, an indy publisher whose books are rather difficult to find and really expensive. I loved Dancing with the Devil and Circle of Fire, so it was with great joy that I ordered her mass market debut Full Moon Rising. I'm not sure I would have passed on it if I'd known even the slightest thing about the premise before hand, but it would have dampened my enthusiasm. I honestly love the urban fantasy genre, but when I read book blurbs like "...a sassy, sexy werewolf whose just gone into heat..." I know I'm heading for mediocrity-ville.

Full Moon Rising takes place in a future version of Australia (something I didn't figure out until the halfway point). Supernaturals of all kinds blend in with human society. Directorate acts as the police force for this community of Others. Riley Jenson is vampire/werewolf hybrid. Being more wolf than vamp, she is overcome for a week every month with Moon Fever, which makes her constantly amorous in the time period around the full moon. She is secretary for the Directorate, but her boss wants her become a Guardian, the muscle of the organization. Her twin brother Rhoan goes missing and she must find him. His disappearance is connected to something even more sinister, and Riley and Quinn, a vampire who is also seeking a missing friend, have to solve the mystery.

I really appreciate that Arthur tried to involve an engaging plot in what is essentially another book in that noxious publishing trend that has taken over the genre: Tough Girl shags anything and everything for Great Justice! The problem is the plot contrivance used to get Riley into hormonal overdrive is not compatible with sleuthing. The Moon Fever causes Riley to constantly need sex, often at the most inappropriate times and it makes her come off as a complete bonehead. It's a shame, because I suspect she would be a pleasant main character if she weren't forced into lust-fueled idiocy by the plot. So desperate for sex she is that she is completely blind-sided by two skeevy evil boyfriends and engages in a rather emotionally charged affair with another guy whom constantly calls her a ho even as indulged himself in her ho-charms. And not in the "Come give Big Daddy a kiss" way, but rather the "Here's fifty buck on the dresser" way. Why her boss wants her in a more important position in the Directorate when she acts like a complete dunce for 25% of the year is beyond me.

Unfortunately, the slightly interesting mystery disengages itself from the novel almost entirely at the midway point. This novel is written in first person, so anything Riley doesn't take part in, the reader only hears about in passing. Increasingly other people do all the investigating work while Riley goes skanking it up all around Melbourne. For example, her brother goes to break into a suspect's office to find out who is behind a nefarious cloning scheme. Riley on the other hand goes to a werewolf sex club to pump one of her evil, skeevy boyfriends for information (and other things) with great gusto even though she already knows he is evil, skeevy, and wants to do bad things to her.

The final confrontation with the story's villain is so utterly ridiculous, it almost makes the non-climax of recent Laurell K Hamilton books look good in comparison. Riley, after being kidnapped by the bad guy, must fight her way out of his high security laboratory. A duel in werewolf form between the two seems eminent. There is a brief scuffle and then Riley settles things by playing with the bad guy's wing-dang-doodle. My jaw hit the floor, and I had to reread that section three times to believe what I had just read.

To top it all off, to get the complete story behind the mystery, there are three more books to buy. Will I read them? I don't know. I know Keri Arthur is capable of much better, and maybe she can reach that point if the next couple books feature a Riley unencumbered by the Moon Fever.

43 of 52 people found the following review helpful

She's making a series out of this?Jan. 29 2007

By
D. Black
- Published on Amazon.com

Format: Mass Market Paperback

While this proved to be a quick read, I really felt that I shouldn't have been able to skim chapters at a time and still understand what was going on. That's a tell-tale sign that there's very little plot and character development. The fact that Arthur ends her book with a semi-cliffhanger was yet another disappointment. I would much rather have had a more sensical plot in one book, than a contrive one over multiple books.

Her main character Riley is unrelatable. There's no nuiance to her. She's yet another hardboiled female character to join the ranks of the over-exposed and increasing derived Anita Blake character.

Even though this was placed in the genre of "paranormal romance," I found very little in the story to identify it as a romance. Sex does not a romance make. The promiscuity of the werewolves make them very ineffective characters.

Also, the concept of a lab for testing creatures of the underworld is such an unoriginal concept. It's been around since Mary Shelley's "Frankenstein" and has been revived in sometimes intelligent ways (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Kelley Armstrong's "Stolen"), but this rehash came across as staid.

Many authors have caught the wave of paranormal fiction, and those who have done is successfully have taken the time to bring a sense of originality and intelligence to their characters and stories. Ms. Arthur's novel falls way short of such aspirations.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful

good!June 11 2006

By
Dondi
- Published on Amazon.com

Format: Hardcover

It read like the Anita Blake Series. The story is told from Riley's viewpoint. She has a twin brother, Rhoan, who has disappeared. They both work for the same agency. The only difference is that Rhoan is an assasin. What makes the twins different from the rest of the characters, is that they are dhampires. They are a combination of werewolves and vampires. Rhoan is more vampire than wolf and needs to drink blood. Riley is more werewolf and has more telepathic abilities. She has a stronger sexual urge than her brother.

I love the fact that the characters in this book are not sexually inhibited. I would think that other creatures or species especially ones that are like wolves are not afraid of their nakedness. The description of the clubs is interesting.

Quinn, a very old vampire, shows up on Riley's doorstep and claims to know Rhoan. Riley does not trust him which is refreshing that a female character does not immediately trust and fall in love with the male character.

I did find the book kind of predictable perhaps, it is because I have read so many other books like this one. It is refreshing to read that the setting is in Australia. It is very different for this genre. I did want this book to continue. At the end, it did feel like a cliffhanger. I bet that she is going to have a sequel. I want to see what happens with Riley and Rhoan next.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful

Could it get any worse?June 26 2007

By
Ellie Eden
- Published on Amazon.com

Format: Mass Market Paperback

This was, without question, the worst book I have ever read! I can't imagine trying to get through the rest of this series; I hardly read through this book, I kept turning the pages hoping for it to develop a decent plot...no such luck.I like reading paranormals, especially when the author's imagination brings about originality! But this?The heroine is in moon fever for the entire book. The one week in every month where she has to have sex constantly! I could even have dealt with this development if it had been toned down, but no. She has sex with three different men throughout, two of which don't seem to mind this at all. And she is so far gone in her fever that she doesn't mind being betrayed, insulted, drugged, and raped by her lovers!Where did Keri Arthur come from?